Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) Price Target Raised to $56.00

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) had its price target boosted by Bank of America from $50.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Alaska Air Group from $41.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $44.00 to $51.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Alaska Air Group from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Alaska Air Group from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Melius lowered shares of Alaska Air Group from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alaska Air Group has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.85.

Alaska Air Group Trading Up 1.3 %

ALK opened at $45.01 on Friday. Alaska Air Group has a twelve month low of $30.75 and a twelve month high of $57.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average of $37.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.63.

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 18th. The transportation company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.09) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Alaska Air Group had a net margin of 2.34% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.62) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Alaska Air Group will post 4.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Alaska Air Group

In related news, EVP Andrew R. Harrison sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.36, for a total transaction of $249,340.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 26,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,201.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Alaska Air Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ALK. Boston Partners raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,811,191 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $148,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495,311 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth about $62,390,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the first quarter worth about $30,293,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Alaska Air Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,980,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Alaska Air Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 7,951,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $422,861,000 after acquiring an additional 660,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.90% of the company’s stock.

About Alaska Air Group

Alaska Air Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates airlines. It operates through three segments: Mainline, Regional, and Horizon. The company offers scheduled air transportation services on Boeing jet aircraft for passengers and cargo in the United States, and in parts of Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belize, Guatemala, and the Bahamas; and for passengers across a shorter distance network within the United States, Canada, and Mexico.